Pigs, Pythons, Boomers & Geezers PT II

My apologies. I really didn’t think it would take me two weeks to write part two. Things have been hectic but enough of the mea culpa. Let’s focus on Boomers and the net.

I was struck by Roy Williams Monday Morning Memo of this past week. Roy talks about being at a conference in Las Vegas recently, speaking to about 1600 people. Just before he went on stage he was warned by the host not to speak about the internet, because the audience was predominantly 55+. Bemused by the comment, Roy quickly asked the audience how many people had used the internet to research a purchase in the last 7 days. He wasn’t startled when 90% of the audience raised their hands. The host certainly was.

It’s estimated that there are 1.07 billion internet users today. That number is expected to increase by over 30% in the next two years – and boomers are a large chunk of that audience. When iTunes launched, Apple was pleasantly surprised by the sales of boomer artists like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Boomers have the credit cards and spending power to easily make these purchases.

If Boomers are the largest audience, period, and they are very internet comfortable, then here are some simple questions. What’s your internet presence? How quickly can they find you? What happens when they Google your name? How are you driving them to your site and what can they do, learn and purchase when they are there?

To effectively reach Boomers, you are going to need to create an internet presence that is easy to get to, easy to navigate, filled with information that is constantly updated and actually answers the questions Boomers are asking. And if you’re really smart, your site will feature a Blog that presents the authentic voice of your organization.